WRITTEN BY DAN SALVA

A Big Audacious Meaning has the power to transform an organization, inspiring all it’s believers (and potential believers) to carry it out into the world.

This powerful purpose is most evident in the brand, because the brand carries the responsibility for how the organization is represented and remembered. This makes the brand the most visible manifestation of the Big Audacious Meaning. It also makes it easy to silo it in the brand group or the marketing department. This is crippling for an organization’s purpose. It reduces it to the impermanence of a tagline. It becomes a fad. And it fails to fulfill its transformative potential.

A Big Audacious Meaning has the power to inform decisions across operations, finance, human resources, and more. Organizations that are aligned behind a Big Audacious Meaning use it as their North Star and touchstone to guide and evaluate their decisions.

This isn’t to say that the brand isn’t important. The Big Audacious Meaning flows through the brand, giving it richness and resonance.

The Big Audacious Meaning flows through the brand, giving it richness and resonance.

The brand is critical for helping it reach the world. Think of the brand as the ambassador that will announce and advocate for our Big Audacious Meaning. The brand fulfills this essential role. It is not the sole domain of purpose. But it is the vehicle for amplifying it.

A Big Audacious Meaning needs the brand. And the brand needs it in order to have a truly transformative effect in the world.

Dan Salva is a co-founder of Will & Grail, with more than three decades of experience in brand marketing and developing and implementing go-to-market strategies. He can be reached at dsalva@willgrail.com.